Seems to be back up now.posted by Poolio at 6:16 PM on October 12, 2007

Marvelous photographs! Great find. Best of the web quality. What a treasure! They're each so different, one a bombed landscape, one an hilarious dog flying across with a romantic looking gentleman behind, the next some bizarre nutcase type, decapitated statues in a decaying building. Found photographs have been done before but not of this caliber......almost a sensory overload of strange beauty.posted by nickyskye at 6:18 PM on October 12, 2007

I recognize a couple of the images. They look totally different juxtaposed against scrapbook finds and detectives' snapshots, though.posted by ardgedee at 6:20 PM on October 12, 2007

wow! amazing picutres. And I like the music too, interesting stuff there...posted by kolophon at 6:20 PM on October 12, 2007

I have a sneaking suspicion that some of those photographs were taken at Geiger's place, corner of Laverne Terrace and Crest Drive. [This is good.]posted by steef at 6:25 PM on October 12, 2007 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure if the site is down or the images are purposefully broken and everyone's just being sarcastic.posted by flatluigi at 6:37 PM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wow, the comments in the thread are totally making me jealous that the site seems to be down. Sucks to be late to the game, I guess.

This is the kind of site that you'll want to go to several times and more, jonson, so I recommend you just favorite the post and wait awhile, til the MeFi deluge of hits is over, then pay it a visit. It really is a fabulous collection, worthy of repeated viewings for sure.posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:43 PM on October 12, 2007

The one of the tall skinny woman in a man's suit on the streets of Paris is a not-so-old Helmut Newton fashion photo. Just sayin.

From the link at the top: "If you know anything about any of the photos on the following pages that would prevent their inclusion here, let me know, would you? Especially any copyright issues, though I suppose just knowing the source of a photo would technically prohibit it's inclusion in a site dedicated to images of unknown provenance, hm? Anyway..."posted by Hubajube at 6:52 PM on October 12, 2007

It's back up, for the time being.

And, lordy, the experience is worth returning.
I'm mentally writing back-story for each of the images now burned into my frontal lobe. I'm also considering printing them out and hanging them as a long strip in my stairwell (wee rollers on either end, to simulate the scrolling experience) and accompanying it with the soundtrack....posted by squasha at 6:53 PM on October 12, 2007

Some pretty striking photos there. Nice find.posted by dazed_one at 6:57 PM on October 12, 2007

Post of the year. Love it! Thanks.posted by fleetmouse at 7:09 PM on October 12, 2007

These photos, with that music, on that site = awesome.

These photos hung, at random, in a 12 x 12 room with peeling paint and a bare, swinging lightbulb, with that music playing = pretty much exactly what I picture a serial killer's abode to look like.posted by quin at 7:09 PM on October 12, 2007 [2 favorites]

The face shot most of the way to the bottom of the guy with the big cigar is tantalizing me. It seems as if I should recognize him. My first take was that it's "Buster Keaton". But I'm not really convinced of that.posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:22 PM on October 12, 2007

uh, I never said I had a bare, swinging bulb in that stairwell....posted by squasha at 7:23 PM on October 12, 2007

Wow, not only does it play sound on loading, but all the images are broken! Amazing!posted by puke & cry at 7:29 PM on October 12, 2007

If you go in through Google Image Search, you can get the image galleries.

This is the closest thing to capturing that late night adolesence finding something different. I really appreciate this.posted by khaibit at 7:32 PM on October 12, 2007

puke & cry: how about you wait a bit and reload before shitting into the thread? you would make less an ass of yourself that way.

I wished there was an rss feed for that page.posted by kolophon at 7:32 PM on October 12, 2007

Wow, not only does it play sound on loading, but all the images are broken! Amazing!

Man, that is one fucked website. Ironic how Mirror World could use a mirror.posted by phaedon at 7:34 PM on October 12, 2007

puke & cry: how about you wait a bit and reload before shitting into the thread? you would make less an ass of yourself that way.

I tried reloading. I also turned on referrers thinking that was the problem. Then I turned on scripting and found that lovely on load music, not mentioned by the poster by the way. When I see that combined with a page full of broken image links, my reaction isn't going to be a good one. But hey, the coral cache link works.posted by puke & cry at 7:42 PM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Just last night I was thinking about how we could be the last generation to leave printed photos behind that are uncaptioned, untagged, devoid of context, and slowly deteriorating. Viewing such photographs is so much more a visceral experience... in many ways, I hope this encourages people to never abandon the analog in favor of the digital.posted by krippledkonscious at 8:31 PM on October 12, 2007

My wife drags me around Estate Sales here in and around Portland, (house owner dies, everything gets sold off...) and there's nearly always a box of photos "uncaptioned, untagged, devoid of context, and slowly deteriorating" that captures the life of the departed. I always find them irresistible and haunting. But I never take them- it always feels like stealing part of their soul.posted by marvin at 8:54 PM on October 12, 2007

Each of these pictures could inspire a novel.

Ha. I knew what that link was gonna be before I put my mouse over it. Well done, blahblahblah.posted by neuron at 9:14 PM on October 12, 2007

Hey y'all, here's the site maker's MySpace page, a kind of portal page for the M*I*R*R*O*R* *W*O*R*L*D site proper.

And the lovely music on this site (same as on the MySpace page) that several here have comented on is called "Spiegel im Spiegel" by the estimable Arvo Part.posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:22 PM on October 12, 2007 [2 favorites]

I always find them irresistible and haunting. But I never take them- it always feels like stealing part of their soul.

I dunno marvin, you might be giving their souls a new life, a new place to dwell, by keeping and treasuring the image. Just a thought.posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:25 PM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

So maybe I'm just a sucker for the Kol Nidre, but thanks for this.posted by allen.spaulding at 9:30 PM on October 12, 2007

Wow! I mean, I was all wow before looking at the page, but coming across this picture of Russian Futurists, probably taken to commemorate Victory Over the Sun, just blew me away. What a vivid slice of history! I've immersed myself in the avant-garde world of the early 20th Century, but I don't remember a group picture that was this... immediate... that wasn't just illustration but told a story in and of itself.posted by Kattullus at 10:15 PM on October 12, 2007

This guy looks curiously similar to a german singer with blonde hair and big-ass glasses that I saw on a site featuring horrible album covers a couple of years ago.

What was his name? Arvo? Mannfred?
Damnit, I can't remember.

Anybody know who I'm talking about?posted by isopraxis at 11:24 PM on October 12, 2007

Bogoróditse Djévo (Old Church Slavonic for "Rejoice, Mother of God") was commissioned in 1992 by King's College Choir, Cambridge, for their annual carol service. Here it is performed by the Pro Arte Singers, conducted by Paul Hillier. It is the first track of the album I am the True Vine, released by Harmonia Mundi in 1999. The album was recorded at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, and at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, England, throughout 1998.

Beginning of Ode I of the Kanon Pokajanen. Released by ECM Records in 1998 on a 2-CD set, the Kanon Pokajanen was recorded at the Niguliste Church in Tallinn, Estonia, in June 1997. It is performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste.posted by sluglicker at 11:27 PM on October 12, 2007

Thought I'd focus my attention on some seeming known-unknown pictures, if you will, rather than tackle the whole lot.

This is a Robam Apsara dancer. The photo was taken in Phnom Penh; says so on the photo. I can't make the rest of the letters/ numbers out; that could possibly mean something.

The same girl appears in this group-photo, along with the rest of her entourage. To her side, is someone with a Hanuman mask; that they're holding hands could possibly mean that they'll be dancing together later. In which case, she's probably playing the Souvanna Machcha, Hanuman's mermaid crush in the Ramakien, the Khmer version of the Ramayana. In fact, a quick googling shows up the same girl on Wikipedia as well, but this time with her tail-fin.

The two dancers next to them will, of course, be playing together. I suspect it'll be Robam Tep Monorom, the dance of the devas. The girl with shoulder-flaps will be playing the devata, and the girl next to her, his celestial consort.

The dancers of the King are preparing for the dance, the description reads in French, and then confusingly has a "Paris, July 1906" scribbled on top. So was it Paris or Phnom Penh? I was thinking it was Phnom Penh, and that Paris is probably where someone found the photo or something. But now I'm not so sure; for as now I recollect, Cambodia's royal artisans were touring France at about that time.posted by the cydonian at 12:39 AM on October 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

I love the mystery of these archives - they just invite you to dream up a story behind each oneposted by alexanderj at 1:21 AM on October 13, 2007

Great site! These images are almost identifiable (if you're given to that kind of thing). The very top photo is snow clearing in the Rogers Pass. Or maybe Breakheart Pass. Richtofen, sure, and is one of those pig-stickers Richard Burton? The guy with the cowboy hat in the field is David Byrne, for certain.posted by CCBC at 1:33 AM on October 13, 2007

So, when did people start smiling for the camera? Go through Flickr, and everyone's grinning like loons. Are we happier? Were our great grandparents more serious? Mass insanity?

Agreed about this site, though. Captivating. And I hate, hate, hate sites that play music in the background, without exception. Except this one.

My WTF Meter overloaded, caught fire and exploded somewhere around the middle of the first page. The soundtrack couldn't have been more appropriate.

I wish I could have recorded my stream of consciousness while I looked at these, and wish I had them printed out as a book I could carry with me to show the less fortunate.posted by Enron Hubbard at 5:02 AM on October 13, 2007

The terrific song on the last page seems to be called Guardian Angels. Anyone know any more info about it?posted by sharksandwich at 5:20 AM on October 13, 2007

I was thinking this all reminds me of the art design in Bioshock and the I saw this one.posted by autodidact at 6:49 AM on October 13, 2007

Fantastic. If anyone's curious, the one with the guy leering at the nun from a car is labeled "Temptation" in Russian and credited to "Jaroslav Valenta (Czechoslovakia)."posted by languagehat at 6:55 AM on October 13, 2007

The terrific song on the last page seems to be called Guardian Angels. Anyone know any more info about it?

It's by Pearls Before Swine. Here is a review of the album.posted by effwerd at 7:17 AM on October 13, 2007

Square America, though, (as mentioned just above by Bighappyfunhouse) has a new set up from s wild wild party... So, inadvertently, I got my anonymous photo on anyway.posted by From Bklyn at 4:56 AM on October 15, 2007

So, essentially Yahoo is saying to MetaFilter that they won't let you visit the site. Why would they do that?posted by tellurian at 4:01 PM on October 15, 2007

Most likely it's just a method for throttling traffic so they can reduce their bandwidth costs. I'm sure it's completely automated once the site hits a certain amount of traffic.posted by mr_roboto at 4:13 PM on October 15, 2007

If that's the case mr_roboto, how come some other users are saying that they can access the site using some subterfuge. If you can 'throttle traffic' by saying only people that can access the site through Yahoo isn't Yahoo saying 'you can only access the site through us', (Caveat: I don't use firefox so I'm assuming it works for the people that are using that extension; Google cache doesn't work - I just get a crucifixion shape of blue question mark boxes [how apt] with the music; same with the coral cache from puke & cry - nada), well quite frankly, I don't know what throttling is.
It's been several days now and I'm still getting "Site Temporarily Disabled" and this happened within half an hour of me posting it.
Adding tag [brokenlink]posted by tellurian at 7:01 AM on October 17, 2007

Yeah, it just cuts down the number of people who can access the site. Reduces the total amount of traffic. I don't think it's personal, though.posted by mr_roboto at 7:24 PM on October 18, 2007

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